Article by
Barbados Today

Published on
July 18, 2013

Kyle Sandiford accepting his prize from chess federation vice president Dr. David Jordan.
Top rated local junior chess player Yutien Poon of The Lodge school has won the Under-20 section of the 2013 Sagicor Open Chess Tournament played recently at Harrison College.
Poon, the reigning CARIFTA Under-16 champion, won on tie-break from the current CAC Under-18 youth champion Orlando Husbands as both players scored six and a half points from a possible seven. Both players conceded only a draw in their direct head to head clash with each other sweeping all the other opposition before them.
In the final round Husbands defeated a stubborn Jonathan Shepherd of Harrison College while Poon swept aside Vijay Morris.
In the battle for third place, Haifeng Su of Guyana managed to claim the spot all alone as he was able to clinch a victory over Lydia Nurse of Queen’s College. Coming into the last round he was on three and a half points along with Jerome Harewood and Justin Maloney. However with Maloney and Harewood drawing with each other, this allowed Su to pull clear, leaving Harewood and Maloney to settle for fourth and fifth respectively. Nurse was the best female on show in the field.
Congratulations must also go to the winners in the two other age category sections of the Sagicor Open.Yutien Poon of The Lodge School in deep concentration.
In the Under-16 section, Emerick LaFortune of Martinique won with six points just ahead of local Bryan Prescod and another Martiniquan Lionel Buisson both on five and a half points.
In the Under-12 section national champion Kyle Sandiford won with six points from American Oden Calvert on five and half points after he defeated Oden in the last round. The Lodge school’s Cody Sargeant came in third also on five and a half points on tie-break.
The Sagicor Open 2013 was a success even in the face of a number of challenges. It saw top quality chess in a competitive and friendly environment and saw good regional rivalry as top regional junior players from Guyana, Martinique and the United States battle with Barbadian players.